--- title: Meta says it has removed 756,000 Australian teen... description: Meta reports removing 756,000 Australian accounts believed to belong to under-16s (462,000 on Instagram, 294,000 on Facebook) between December 2025 and June... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/meta-says-it-has-removed-756-000-australian-teen-accounts-but-most-under-16s-are-still-online-w0fiaxbpk twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Meta says it has removed 756,000 Australian teen accounts, but most under-16s are still online | daily.dev og:description: Meta reports removing 756,000 Australian accounts believed to belong to under-16s (462,000 on Instagram, 294,000 on Facebook) between December 2025 and June... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/meta-says-it-has-removed-756-000-australian-teen-accounts-but-most-under-16s-are-still-online-w0fiaxbpk og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/W0FiaxBpK.png og:image:alt: Meta says it has removed 756,000 Australian teen accounts, but most under-16s are still online og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Meta says it has removed 756,000 Australian teen accounts, but most under-16s are still online **[The Next Web](https://daily.dev/sources/tnw)** · 4 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary Meta reports removing 756,000 Australian accounts believed to belong to under-16s (462,000 on Instagram, 294,000 on Facebook) between December 2025 and June 2026, as Australia's world-first social media ban for under-16s moves into enforcement. Despite the removals, independent research and government figures suggest over 80% of under-16s were still using social media during the ban's first three months. Meta says it uses AI-based contextual scanning, photo age-estimation, and behavioural signals to detect underage users, and blocks recreated accounts, but critics note such systems are imprecise. Australia has accused Meta, TikTok, and YouTube of non-compliance, raised maximum fines to about A$99m, and expanded regulator powers, while a Senate fix to tighten the regime has been delayed. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### How many Australian teen accounts has Meta removed under the under-16 social media ban? Meta says it deactivated 756,000 Australian accounts belonging to under-16s, split between 462,000 on Instagram and 294,000 on Facebook. The removals took place between December 2025 and June 2026, following Australia's ban on under-16s using mainstream social media, which took effect on 10 December 2025. _Anyone tracking how platforms respond to age-verification laws can follow the compliance debate on daily.dev._ ### Is Australia's under-16 social media ban actually keeping teenagers off platforms like Instagram and Facebook? Not effectively so far: independent research and government figures show more than 80% of under-16s were still using social media during the ban's first three months. Teenagers commonly evade detection by lying about their birthdate, borrowing an adult's login, or creating new accounts after being removed. _Developers and analysts weighing platform compliance claims against real-world data can dig deeper on daily.dev._ ### What penalties can Australia impose on social media platforms for failing to comply with its under-16 ban? Australia raised the maximum fine for non-compliance to about A$99m (roughly $69.75m) and granted regulators expanded powers to compel platforms to hand over internal documents. This followed accusations that Meta, TikTok, and YouTube were not complying with the ban, and comes as a Senate fix to tighten the law has been delayed. _Those following platform regulation and enforcement powers can track updates like this on daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Meta removed 756,000 Australian accounts. Its real ask is that Apple does the checking](https://daily.dev/posts/meta-removed-756-000-australian-accounts-its-real-ask-is-that-apple-does-the-checking-tt6t61rjz) · The Next Web · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [With upcoming ban, Meta begins to notify Australian teens that their accounts will be shut down](https://daily.dev/posts/with-upcoming-ban-meta-begins-to-notify-australian-teens-that-their-accounts-will-be-shut-down-b8ne9j3nv) · TechCrunch · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [World’s first teen social media ban is failing](https://daily.dev/posts/world-s-first-teen-social-media-ban-is-failing-tg5icr5sr) · TechCentral · 22 upvotes · 7 comments - [Australia’s teen social media ban works on paper, less so in practice](https://daily.dev/posts/australia-s-teen-social-media-ban-works-on-paper-less-so-in-practice-o8f0mey6y) · The Next Web · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#instagram](https://daily.dev/tags/instagram) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/meta-says-it-has-removed-756-000-australian-teen-accounts-but-most-under-16s-are-still-online-w0fiaxbpk) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Meta says it has removed 756,000 Australian teen accounts, but most under-16s are still online","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/meta-says-it-has-removed-756-000-australian-teen-accounts-but-most-under-16s-are-still-online-w0fiaxbpk","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/meta-says-it-has-removed-756-000-australian-teen-accounts-but-most-under-16s-are-still-online-w0fiaxbpk"},"datePublished":"2026-08-13T08:03:42.245Z","dateModified":"2026-09-14T07:54:25.432Z","description":"Meta reports removing 756,000 Australian accounts believed to belong to under-16s (462,000 on Instagram, 294,000 on Facebook) between December 2025 and June...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/3bf043f54fefbdcf23179476c3c1e044?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/3bf043f54fefbdcf23179476c3c1e044?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"The Next Web","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"The Next Web","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/t_logo,f_auto/v1/logos/tnw","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/tnw"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/meta-says-it-has-removed-756-000-australian-teen-accounts-but-most-under-16s-are-still-online-w0fiaxbpk","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"instagram","timeRequired":"PT4M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Next Web","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/tnw"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Meta says it has removed 756,000 Australian teen accounts, but most under-16s are still online"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/meta-says-it-has-removed-756-000-australian-teen-accounts-but-most-under-16s-are-still-online-w0fiaxbpk#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"How many Australian teen accounts has Meta removed under the under-16 social media ban?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Meta says it deactivated 756,000 Australian accounts belonging to under-16s, split between 462,000 on Instagram and 294,000 on Facebook. The removals took place between December 2025 and June 2026, following Australia's ban on under-16s using mainstream social media, which took effect on 10 December 2025. Anyone tracking how platforms respond to age-verification laws can follow the compliance debate on daily.dev."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Is Australia's under-16 social media ban actually keeping teenagers off platforms like Instagram and Facebook?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Not effectively so far: independent research and government figures show more than 80% of under-16s were still using social media during the ban's first three months. Teenagers commonly evade detection by lying about their birthdate, borrowing an adult's login, or creating new accounts after being removed. 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